Sign stealing becomes issue in Boone Commish race

Candidates often accuse each other of stealing signs, but it doesn’t often result in charges.

Boone County Commissioner Charlie Kenner, however, has filed a police report with the Boone County Sheriff’s office accusing his opponent Phyllis Sparks of stealing his yard signs. Kenner said he’s considering pressing charges and talking with the county attorney.

Sparks, the vice president of the Boone County Republican Party, is challenging Kenner in the Republican Primary May 20.

“If she’s unethical enough to steal signs, we need her to explain herself to me and the voters,” Kenner said. “This deserves an explanation.”

Sparks said it was an honest mistake. She said an “overzealous campaign volunteer” misunderstood and took the signs but later returned them when the error was caught.

“This is pure desperation and pettiness in the final hours of this campaign,” Sparks said. “It appears Mr. Kenner wants to make this about yard signs rather than his failed record on the fiscal court. This campaign is about his lack of leadership, a park tax, and growing the size of government. These are the real issues facing Boone County.”

Kenner, Boone County Judge-executive Gary Moore and Republican Ed Moore called the sheriff’s office on May 3 to complain Sparks was removing signs from a yard in the 600-block of Mount Zion Road, the sheriff’s report stated. Most of the removed signs were those of of Kenner and U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, according to the sheriff’s office.

The sheriff’s report stated Sparks said the homeowner had asked her to remove some of the signs when she asked permission to put signs in the yard. Sparks said she told the campaign volunteer to put her sign up on the Mount Zion property. The volunteer, thinking the homeowner also didn’t want the Kenner and McConnell signs, took them.

“I let Col. Hill (with the sheriff’s department) know,” Sparks said. “We recovered the signs, gave them to Col. Hill, and apologized profusely. It was an overzealous action on part of my volunteer. It was a mistake, an honest mistake.”

The sheriff’s office stated Sparks told them she “did remove the signs but didn’t know it was wrong, and that she was only trying to help the homeowner out.”

In the sheriff’s report, the homeowner told sheriff’s deputies, however, that Gary Moore and Kenner had his permission to pust signs in their yard and, while they gave permission for Sparks to put her signs in their yard, they didn’t give her permission to take the other signs.